Chelsea have agreed a deal to sign Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez, confirms Fabrizio Romano on his transfer deadline day stream. The Blues are now closing in on confirming their eighth signing of the winter transfer window.
Fernandez is now going to have his medical tests in Portugal, and the deal is dependent on all documents being signed in time, but the largest hurdle in the completion of the transfer has now been overcome.
Chelsea Finalise Enzo Fernandez Transfer
Chelsea Ready to Pay Record Fee for Fernandez
Since he won the Qatar World Cup with Argentina and won the World Cup Young Player of the Tournament award, the 22-year-old midfielder started attracting serious interest from the Premier League giants. With Chelsea in need of some real quality in midfield, they opted to make a move for Fernandez and have been talking with Benfica over a deal for weeks, with reports first linking them to the player on December 30.
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Romano adds that the Blues have decided to pay his entire release clause of £105 million – which is set to be a club-record deal. Indeed, Enzo’s transfer is more expensive than the £101 million fee they paid Inter Milan for the signing of Romelu Lukaku in 2021. Fernandez also sets the record for the most expensive departure from Liga Portugal as well.
The Argentine midfielder has also played his part in ensuring this deal goes through, telling his club that he wants to leave and pushing for an exit since early January. He will now have to hurry to finalize the deal before the transfer deadline on 11pm on January 31.
Chelsea Close to Confirming Eighth January Signing
Chelsea have been on an absolute spending spree in the January transfer window having already confirmed the arrival of seven new players. The haul of signings includes spending a major fee to sign Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk, as well as bringing in Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid and defender Benoit Badiashile from AS Monaco.
They have already spent well over £150 million in transfer fees and that will exponentially increase once they complete the Fernandez deal. The 23-year-old midfielder, who was called ‘spectacular’ by Lionel Messi at the World Cup, has performed pretty well for his club this season as well.
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He has scored four goals and provided seven assists in 29 appearances for Benfica this campaign and proved himself as a midfield general. His new side will see him as a key player for their future, which is why they’re ready to pay big for him and hope to get the deal over the line before the window slams shut.
